Quest Rewards
The three fillies walked with the the Duke and his daughter back to the road, where torches were blazing. They avoided the scene of the ambush, and were just as glad to do so. The area they were heading for was further down the road to Duke's Haven, and a scene of considerable activity of it's own.
The guardsmen had left their horses here, and among them was another carriage, ready to go. Unlike the original, which had been a fully enclosed coach, this was an open topped four wheeler, though it had a folding hood that was currently fully extended. It also had coach style seating, two well padded and cushioned benches facing one another.
In the better lighting Sweetie Belle suddenly noticed that one of Apple Bloom's ears was was covered a with more red than just her mane. “Apple Bloom! You're hurt!”
Apple Bloom reached up with a hoof to the ear Sweetie Belle was looking at, and felt the dried blood on the ear and the hair around it. “Huh! I never even noticed!”
“Let me fix that up...” Sweetie Belle stepped up beside her, but Apple Bloom just moved her hoof to block the little unicorn's horn. “Uh huh, it isn't bleeding any more, and you were straining to pump out a light spell just now. Save your strength, I'll wash it and get some-pony to bandage it up. If it looks bad tomorrow, then you can zap it.”
A red cloaked soldier, another knight, came up to the Duke and offered a verbal report on the progress of the clean-up. He had the officer pause for a moment, and gave Annette another hug.
“Go on ahead to the manor, I have a lot of things still to do here. I'll be along as soon as I've dealt with things...” He made a wry face and glanced up at the night sky. “... though that probably won't be until the moons set. Get your new friends settled in.”
Annette started to protest, then just hugged him back. “Alright, I'll go. I love you!”
“I love you too, and I'm very proud of you.” He gave her a warm smile.
After they'd made their farewells, lady Annette and the three ponies were directed to the carriage, where they saw a familiar face.
“Nerina!” Annette bounded up the step into the carriage and gave her lady in waiting a hug. “You're alive, I mean Apple Bloom told me you were, but...”
The baroness returned the hug with interest. “I'm so glad to see you're safe! I see our new travelling companions found you after all.”
“And rescued me!” Annette added brightly. “Apple Bloom threw a horse-shoe at Mancetti, and then kicked him in the stomach while Sweetie Belle broke a chamber pot over his head. It was amazing!”
“You helped too.” Apple Bloom settled herself on her haunches, on the seat facing them. “She dropped down behind him as I knocked him back. Made him fall over right into the bed. That was what gave us the time to get out of the door.“
Sweetie Belle hauled herself up next to the earth pony, and leaned into her shoulder as she yawned “Well, I'm really glad all of us made it... oh!”
She suddenly jerked upright, and looked over at Nerina and Annette with a guilty expression. Annette's eyes widened in sudden realisation, then darkened as she turned to Nerina.
“Sergeant Silamon and Corporal Westby were at the carriage door, I saw... what happened to them. What about the others?”
“Annette, maybe this isn't the best time...” Nerina hedged.
“Waiting won't make it any easier. Tell me!” The three ponies saw the resemblance to her father clearly for the first time. She didn't raise her voice, but there was something in her expression; a set to her jaw, a look to the eyes that bespoke command. Then it softened, and there was only a young girl asking a trusted elder for aid. “Please...”
The names Nerina gave meant nothing to the ponies, but Annette clearly knew them. Of the dozen she named, only four had apparently survived. Annette just sat there, head down and eyes shut with her hands clenched. As Nerina finished, the three ponies could see that tears were trickling down her cheeks.
When she spoke, it was soft, and slightly hoarse. “When they carried me away, I saw only glimpses, I didn't _want_ to look. I was sure there wouldn't be many survivors, none from the way they attacked, but I'd hoped... Oh, Nerina!”
She moved forward and the Baroness opened her arms for a hug. She held the younger girl as Annette leaned on her for support.
“What the hey?” Scootaloo exclaimed, but quietly.
Apple Bloom shook her head and whispered back. “Some of those guards had to have been friends of hers, duh!“
Apparently it wasn't quiet enough. Nerina looked up from comforting Annette, but didn't stop. “Not exactly, but close enough. They were her personal guard detail. Some of them had been with her a long time, they were almost family.”
Sweetie Belle had been feeling more and more guilty as she watched Annette, and this last revelation was too much. She burst into tears. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I tried, I threw everything I had into my spells, but there were people I just couldn't heal...”
Apple Bloom started to support her right away. “Sweetie Belle, I said this already! I was right there beside you, remember? No-pony could have done anything more than you did!”
Scootaloo's wing went around the unicorn's shoulders in a hug. “Yeah! Just going near that mess made me toss my cookies, but you dived right in, you must have been muzzle deep in it to touch them with your horn! If any-pony, anybody survived, it was because you were there and bucking out the healing magic!
“Apple Bloom was guilt tripping earlier about maybe blowing up some of those bad guys when we escaped. I told her then to stop beating herself up for not being able to avoid hurting them when they'd pretty much rigged their own boom, I mean doom, so don't you feel guilty about not being able to save people who were beyond help.”
Sweetie Belle felt a hand on her hoof, and looked up to see Annette's face, still tear streaked, but no longer distraught. She sniffled. “I should be apologising to you. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty, I should have realised how it would affect you and waited to ask. It was thoughtless, particularly after what you've done for me.”
Barroness Nerina added her piece. “I heard from the caravan lady, Maia, how they had to pull you away from some who were... past saving, to stop you wasting your magic. The only people to blame are the monsters who set up that ambush, and I'm sure the guards will see they get what they deserve. I'm just glad you were there to do what you could, and I'm sure Annette feels the same way.”
Annette just nodded, seeming to draw strength from Nerina's words. “My father always says that power means you sometimes have to make hard decisions. You can't always take care of every problem, so you have to find ways to do what you can, and accept what you can't. I suppose it's the same whether you're a Duke or a magician.”
Sweetie Belle gave a rather watery smile at the unanimous support, and relaxed into Scootaloo's wing hug, just as the carriage jerked into motion. The ride wasn't significantly smoother than on the caravan wagons, though the seating was well padded. Apple Bloom winced at one particularly energetic jolt that lifted her off the seat. “Oof! This thing could do with proper suspension!”
That started a conversation about some technologies Equestria had that this realm clearly didn't, with Scootaloo making some pointed remarks about the lack of flush toilets, and while they were at it, soft toilet paper. From there into a general conversation about the three ponies' home land and how they'd arrived here, which filled up the time it took to reach Duke's Haven nicely.
It also avoided the subject of the ambush, which none of them wanted to dwell on any more. At least, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo carried their end of the conversation, as Sweetie Belle was dozing, the effort of continual magic use having finally caught up with her. She didn't even wake as they approached their destination.
The wooded area to each side thinned out as they came out of the steeper sided hills into a vale that overlooked a wide river valley, if the silvery snake of water in the far distance was anything to go by. The road they were on led down into a large village that right now was well lit up, and as active as a bucked hornet's nest.
However they turned off onto a paved side road that split off and around the edge of the vale to an out-jutting promontory of the hills behind them. It formed a relatively narrow shelf which overlooked the valley, and the site of their destination. It was illuminated by the light of the moons that rode high in the night sky above, and the blazing torches and lanterns that shone from within.
When they'd heard the term 'manor', the three ponies had imagined something similar to one of the stately homes around Canterlot or Trottingham, a big, fancy looking mansion set in equally lavish formal gardens. This was a castle, and a working one. The main keep was a single massive block, built into the very end of the out-crop, with the stone of the hillside cut away to form three continuing walls down for hundreds of feet to forested slopes that dropped down into the valley.
Stretching out in front of it was a curtain wall enclosing a large courtyard that covered the entire width of the promontory. However, this wasn't a few feet of stone blocks like the one that had enclosed the watch tower, but a wall a dozen feet thick and twice as high, with crenelations, machicolations and other -ations of a defensive nature. There were battlement surmounted towers at intervals along it and a gate house in the centre of the nearest wall that was a small castle in itself.
Compared to the grim functionality of the lower part, the upper section of the main keep was almost fanciful, with white plastered and decorated walls punctuated by rows of wide windows on the sides facing away from the courtyard. The courtyard side had fewer, smaller windows, but there was a wide balcony, and above it on the unbroken plaster a large painting of the ducal coat of arms.
A steep peaked roof surmounted the keep, with rows of dormers and chimneys along it's length, and spire roofed turrets at each corner. It wasn't quite as fancy as Buckingham Palace in Canterlot, but it came a pretty close second.
“Wow! That's an awesome castle!” Apple Bloom, designated captain of obvious remarks, exclaimed. She nudged Sweetie Belle awake, and she oohed and ahhed at the fortress as they came up to it.
“It's so pretty! I can't wait to see what it looks like in daylight.” The little unicorn rubbed her eyes with the back of a hoof and yawned. “And I'm really looking forward to that bath, and sleeping in a proper bed.”
Scootaloo's stomach didn't exactly rumble, it more sort of made a gurgling sound reminiscent of an emptying basin. “Some food would be good too, I kinda left my lunch on the landscape back there, and I wasn't exactly thinking about food when I was here last.”
Baroness Nerina reassured them. “The Duke sent a courier ahead on a fast horse to make preparations.”
“You'll love the bath house!” Annette said eagerly. “Father had it re-modelled just last year.”
That perked Sweetie Belle up. “A bath house, like the spa in Ponyville? Rarity took me there a couple of times, it was really nice. She had me put through the works, a hooficure, massage, facial, body wrap, and soaking in the herbal bath to finish. I'm not as bothered about looking fancy as my big sister, but it was nice to be pampered. The seaweed strips were delicious...”
She made a face. “Of course, no-pony told me they were for the body wrap.”
That got a laugh from her friends, and a curious look from the two humans. Nerina smiled, “Well, I'm not sure we can manage all that, but it will get you clean.”
They came through the gatehouse, and the escort peeled off to stabling areas built along the walls. Servants and ostlers and maids and stable boys were dashing hither and yon, though not a few of them stopped and stared when the three ponies jumped down out of the carriage. A periwigged man in a fancifully decorated uniform was waiting for them, accompanied by several maids in plainer but more practical outfits.
“Lady Annette, Baroness Nerina. It is good to see you safe and sound.” He gave a neat little bow. “And Miss Scootaloo, I believe these are your friends?”
“Yeah, this is Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle.” she pointed out who was who.
“You two know each other?” Apple Bloom asked in a surprised tone.
“I came here with the message remember?” Scootaloo grinned. “I kinda had to bull my way in, even with Nerina's letter. Fotheringay here was all 'no-one disturbs the Duke without an appointment, no matter how unusual' and I told him I wasn't going to be stopped by a guy wearing a cat on his head!”
That got a snicker from the other ponies and a giggle out of Annette, followed by apologies.
Scootaloo turned to Fotheringay. “Uh, sorry about that, I was kinda stressed out at the time. No hard feelings?”
The butler didn't crack his impassive expression, but replied. “I am aware of the circumstances. The courier gave a full report, though it was somewhat heavy on the hyperbole.”
Baroness Nerina spoke to him. “I hope you received the Duke's message?”
“Yes, milady. I have the kitchens preparing a full meal, vegetable dishes only for the three ponies and the bath house is being prepared even as we speak. Lady Annette's and your rooms are ready for you, and I took the liberty of arranging the three best guest rooms for your pony friends.”
“Very good, Fotheringay. We'll wait in my chambers, could you have some mulled wine sent up as well?”
“I'll see to it directly, Barnoness.”
&&&
Apple Bloom had never had servants to help her wash, and wasn't sure she liked it. Sweetie Belle hadn't had a problem with it, that was for sure, and Scootaloo had finally come down off the cloud of mist around the ceiling when they promised to take extra care grooming out her wings.
The three ponies had been the centre of attention, even Annette and Nerina had wanted to help groom their manes and tails once their own baths were done. Though they'd quickly put a stop to the couple of maids who were talking to the three fillies in baby-talk, like they were foals.
At least the food was good, and plentiful. Maia did her best, but there was a limit to how much you could do over a camp fire. The farm-filly resolved to get some ingredients and try that Honey Roast Turnip recipe, now they had access to a proper oven.
They were back in Nerina's rooms, and an excellent repast had been delivered by more servants, or possibly the same ones. The two nobles had put on clean dresses, but the three ponies, having left their saddlebags and cloaks in their own rooms, weren't wearing anything more than they had in the baths.
They'd barely started to eat when there was a knock at the door, and Fotheringay's voice was audible. “There are two visitors downstairs, a Dayton and Maia Marrel, who are insistent on seeing Miss Apple Bloom, Miss Sweetie Belle and Miss Scootaloo. I informed them you were at supper, but they stated you would wish to see them anyway.”
“Yes! I mean...” Apple Bloom looked over at Annette and Nerina.
The Duke's daughter smiled her assent. “By all means. I want to meet them myself.”
Apple Bloom was having second thoughts. “Dayton's going to be mad at me, we did sort of promise that we wouldn't take risks.”
“It's not like we had a choice.” Sweetie Belle had been refreshed by the bath and the smell of food. “He'll understand.”
The caravan leaders were shown into the drawing room, and Maia immediately hurried over to check the three fillies. “You're all safe! I was so worried about you!”
“Heh!” Scootaloo gave a cheerful grin. “Like that bunch of losers were going to give us trouble!”
Maia was examining each of them closely, partly for injuries, and partly from her expression, to confirm they were really there. She noticed Apple Bloom's ear, which had been neatly bandaged. “You're hurt? But...”
Apple Bloom saw her glancing towards Sweetie Belle and replied. “It's only a scratch. Sweetie Belle's been pumping out the spells all evening, I wasn't going to ask her to whammy me up just for this. We've been through a lot worse tonight.”
Dayton was standing back, arms folded and a neutral expression on his face. “So I heard.”
Apple Bloom ducked her head, avoiding his gaze, then glanced over the table. “Uh... I should introduce you to our new friends, Lady Annette and Baroness Nerina... well, you already know Nerina, sort of...”
Maia noticed the others for the first time and blushed a bright red as she faced them. “Oh my! I'm very sorry for ignoring you, miladies! I'm Maia Marrel, and this is my husband, Dayton. Of course, we already met, Baroness Nerina...”
The Baroness took pity on the flustered lady. “Please, anyone who's bandaged me up gets to call me Nerina.”
Meanwhile, Annette was giggling. “It's alright, really! Apple Bloom told me how well you've taken care of them while they were travelling with you. I'm glad to see that's still the same.”
“Why would that change?”Maia asked, honestly confused.
“She was worried you'd be angry at her for taking risks.” The Duke's daughter sobered a bit, seeming older than her years. “However, if they hadn't, I probably wouldn't be here, or my father... So don't be angry at them, please!”
She looked past Maia to Dayton, meeting his gaze. After a few seconds, he gave a big sigh.
“I was at first, but after hearing why they'd done it, I couldn't be. That messenger who came to get us gave us the full tale. I know why, but taking on an entire castle full of bandits...” He finally cracked a smile. “I should have known. Trying to keep these three out of trouble is like asking water not to flow downhill.”
Apple Bloom finally added her two bits worth. She'd been silent the whole time, her expression of concentration showing she'd been thinking.
“It wasn't like that! We really did try to stay out of it and watch...” She looked over at Annette apologetically. “When we first came after you, it was simply to find you. Scootaloo was to fetch your dad and whoever else she could get while we stayed and kept track of you. We expected your dad to do the rescuing.”
The farm filly shook her head as if trying to dislodge an annoying parasprite.
“It wasn't that we didn't want to help however we could, but we'd made the promise, and it made sense that an army could take down an entire bandit camp rather than the three, well, two of us. We found you pretty much by accident, after we had to escape being caught, as we told your dad. Of course, when we found you, there was no way we could leave you behind. But it wasn't what we set out to do, and I hope you don't think we're trying to take credit where it isn't due.”
She looked rather hangdog, which looked odd on a pony, and Annette reached across the table and patted her hoof. “I don't care what you started out doing, only what you _did_ do. One of father's saying is that 'Heroes are usually the result of something going wrong.'”
The pony gave her a thankful smile and turned back to face Dayton. “Anyhow, I'm not sure we should have given that promise in the first place. The Duke said something about a higher power bringing us here, and it got me thinking. Ever since we got here, we haven't been able to take two steps without falling over some-pony... somebody who needs our help. What if something knew all these bad things were going to happen, and figured we were the right medicine?
“There's another part to it, when we cast that spell, we were only interested in getting our cutie marks. It was... not selfish, we were only trying to get some things that were rightfully ours but...”
“Self-centred?” Sweetie Belle offered.
“Yeah, that sounds about right. But since we got here, we've helped a lot of people with our skills. We did get our cutie marks, but that was only the first step. Maybe someone wanted to teach us a lesson, both ways, that we were focussing on the wrong thing.
“When I think back to some of the things we tried, hoping for any kind of cutie mark... why would we want a cutie mark for arguing, or standing on one leg? In a way we were as bad as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, figuring the mark was more important than the pony wearing it.“
That got an angry exclamation from Scootaloo, but Sweetie Belle's eyed widened in understanding.
“Oh my, I think I see what you mean. Scootaloo, she didn't mean we were stuck up meanies like those two, she just meant... Okay, say we were back in Ponyville, at the club house about to do the spell, but you suddenly knew what would happen, getting sent here, having to find our way home, all the bad stuff and everything.
“Would you still go through with it? And would it be for the cutie mark, or because without you there to help, all the bad things we stopped would otherwise have happened? No, better yet, say while you'd be able to do the same things, you wouldn't get a cutie mark out of it. So, would you?”
Scootaloo finally seemed to understand. She puffed out a deep breath and said, “Yeah. Okay, I get it, it's not about the cutie marks, or even our talents, it's about what we can do with them, helping people. Huh, Apple Bloom's martial arts shtick isn't even from her cutie mark, just a lot of hard work.”
“Right... Okay, I kind of lost the thread there.” Apple Bloom stalled for a moment, then continued. “Okay, got it back. So there's two reasons we shouldn't have made that promise. First, given the choice to stand by or go help some-pony in danger, we'll go help, just like our big sisters would. It's just who we are. And I _like_ who we are.”
That got murmurs of agreement from both the others.
“Secondly, we don't know that whatever it is has finished with us yet. So even if we try to avoid any further adventures, we may find ourselves ending up in them any way. It's like my sensei, Temple Fortress said, 'Sometimes we meet our fate on the very road we took to avoid it.'. He's either very wise, or he eats a lot of fortune cookies. Probably both.”
The farm filly shrugged. “It may all be some wild coincidence, but the plain fact is, we're likely to end up doing more of this before we're through. We all know bad things can happen, I mean we've had them happen to us already, but all of us agree it's worth it. We won't take any risks we don't have to, but we aren't going to run away from danger either, not if someone needs help.”
She looked back and forth between Maia and Darrel, clearly finding it hard to say what was coming next.
“You've both been so kind to us, the last thing I want to seem is ungrateful. Without your care and protection, we'd have had a far worse time of it, but we're not little foals. We're not full grown ponies either, but we have to start somewhere, taking on responsibility. All I'm asking is that you trust us to do it.”
There was a moment of silence, then Scootaloo exclaimed, “Whoa! That was some pretty joined up thinking there!”
“Like I said, I've been thinking.” Apple Bloom said, almost defensively.
“I understand...” Dayton stepped up beside his wife, and they glanced at each other, sharing some sort of marital telepathy. “We understand. You're right, it's unfair for us to expect you to do less for other people than you did for us.”
Maia added, “Oh dear, I guess we just wanted to protect you, the way you protected us...”
“Because that's what friends do.” Sweetie Belle finished. She smiled, softly, “No, more like family. When we got here, I missed my mom and dad and my big sister awfully. I still do, but having the two of you take care of us, it made it a bit better. You gave us some-pony... someone to lean on, and even though we're going to have to stand on our own four hooves, we'll always be grateful for that.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Aww hores-feathers! I'm not good with the mushy, gushy stuff, but I feel the same way.”
The couple were clearly touched by the ponies' declarations, but Dayton had to say, “So the question is, will you still be coming with us tomorrow? I can't delay the caravan another day in Duke's Haven, and it looks like you're pretty comfortable here.”
“I'm sure my father will provide transport to Teiras for them when they want to go.” Annette said, then had a thought. “I'm sure father wants to talk to you anyway, so can ask Fotheringay to provide you with a room to stay here tonight. That means you'll be here for him to talk to tomorrow, and you'll be able to say a proper goodbye if you leave without these three.”
“Thank you, your ladyship.” Maia replied gratefully.
“It's fine, it's the least we can do for all your help.” Annette waved the thanks away.
&&&
The next morning the three ponies were guided up to the Duke's office, and met a somewhat stunned looking Dayton on his way down, though they had no chance to talk. They were ushered into the Duke's study by a servant, where the duke himself was sat behind a large desk, piled high with papers.
The room had a northern light from a wide leaded glass window and was clearly a place of business, with a book case full of well used books and scrolls, and a scribe behind a smaller desk off to one side. It was sparsely decorated, but what decoration existed was of the highest quality. The unlit fireplace was large, and had some beautifully made but thoroughly functional swords crossing an equally fine shield.
The duke was already observing them as they entered, and a few seconds after they arrived, servants came in with some padded chairs to add to the one already there.
“Sit, make yourselves comfortable, we have many things to discuss. Do you need anything?”
“Oh no, your grace, everyone has taken very good care of us.” Sweetie Belle replied.
“Uh... What was with Dayton?” Apple Bloom asked, “Oh, your grace, I mean...”
The duke grinned an unexpected grin and waved a hand. “We can keep the graces to a minimum. I'm not all that graceful.”
That got a gasp from the scribe, and a quickly suppressed giggle from Scootaloo, hearing Apple Bloom's faux pas being made fun of. “Sir is good enough, if you feel the need for a title. I intend to keep this informal.
“As for Master Marrel, one of the things I discussed with him was a suitable reward for helping my people. Many travellers would have considered getting the news to me as fast as possible sufficient unto their duty, and getting away from a possible ambush a worthwhile bonus. He is a man of integrity and compassion, sadly all too rare, especially in combination with ability, which he also possesses.
“So in addition to a reasonable sum of gold, I've provided him with a letter of introduction to some potential investors. He has dreams beyond carrying other peoples bulk cargoes, but has never been able to accumulate sufficient money to put together a worthwhile cargo of his own. With my backing, that should not be a problem, if he can convince my chancellor and the other private investors that his business plan is sound.
“I understand he wants to refit his carts along the lines of your suggestions, Miss Apple Bloom, which should make them more efficient than most, though I understand little of the technical details. However, I believe he will do well, and in turn do well by my treasury. The best kind of deal, where everyone goes away happy.”
“But I wish to talk about you, though first I intend to listen. Explain in your own words how you came to be here, and what happened since.”
Apple Bloom frowned in confusion. “But haven't Mayor Vennor and Dayton already told you all this?”
“Indeed, but I prefer to cross check my information.” He steepled his hands and rested his head on them. Apple Bloom, as before ended up being the main story teller, with the other two assisting. When they got to talking about Arroway's kidnapping, Scootaloo asked, “So what's going to happen to him? Have you decided?”
“Yes I have. Dander Arroway is not the best of men, he's always been arrogant, pigheaded, and stupid in that way that only smart people can get. However, he has always been good at his job, and honest... though I suspect that's more due to lack of imagination and fear of being found out rather than any great moral rectitude. Hopefully, five years on the road clearance gangs will do something to cure his worst qualities. I hope that satisfies you?”
Scootaloo nodded, “Sure, I just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be executed. As long as he's getting punished, that's enough. Like Mayor Vennor said, he was stupid, not evil.”
The Duke sighed and spread his hands. “I should have had someone more senior with him to ride herd on him, but then I never expected him to show that much initiative! Providing my daughter's escort, and dealing with all the other troubles lately has left me strapped for men... Thankfully your co-operation meant I could go for a lesser sentence. In fact you three saved him twice over.
“If he'd actually gotten here, with Brother Soren having determined you were people, I'd have had no choice but to consider it more than attempted kidnapping, and rule accordingly. Thank the gods that wasn't necessary. If I had to sign death warrants for stupidity, I'd end up depopulating half the Duchy!”
Apple Bloom continued the tale, going on to the events of yesterday evening. It got a bit complicated when each of them had to tell their parts of the story after they'd split up, but it helped that they'd managed to have a talk before they'd come there. Once again there was no mention of the zombies.
“... Then we met up with you and the soldiers, and the rest you know.” Apple Bloom finished, and gave a gulp to clear a throat dry from talking. Fortunately, a servant appeared carrying a tray of apple juice and small beer. So the three ponies had a chance to refresh themselves, while the Duke considered their story. Of course, that didn't stop him having a small beer himself to aid contemplation.
As he put down the half empty mug, he looked the three of them over. Something in his gaze reminded Apple Bloom of when they'd been introduced to Princess Celestia during Princess Cadence's wedding, a certain benevolent appraisal. “A remarkable story, and one I'd have never believed if I hadn't already had reports that confirmed it from Mayor Vennor and Master Marrel. Is it true the three of you are not yet adults?”
“Uh, yes sir.” Sweetie Belle replied.
“Remarkable. This Equestria must be an impressive place. But let us move on. Seeking this spell to return you to your own world is likely to be expensive and time consuming. While you search in Teiras, I shall see that you have rooms at my town house there. And of course, consider the rooms you have here as your own.
“I must admit, I have something of an ulterior motive. I managed to make two whole hours of time this morning to breakfast with Annette, but am unlikely to see her before nightfall, if then. I love my daughter, but I can never spend the time with her she deserves, especially after what she's been through.” His tone was no longer that of a duke, but instead a worried father.
“If you were to involve her in your search, stay close to her, it might help her to have a goal to work towards, and she would feel safer with her rescuers around. That is not an order, simply a request, and has no bearing on anything else. I want to be there myself...”, he waved a hand over his paper-filled desk, “... but since I can't, I can't do the next best thing.”
“Why sure, that's no problem.” Apple Bloom replied, glancing at the other two. Sweetie Belle nodded, and Scootaloo added, “Yeah, she's cool.”
“Thank you again. Though I can narrow your search down a bit. You will not find an arcane caster who will be able to do such a spell in Teiras.”
He motioned to the scribe, who brought him a slim leather bound volume which he flipped through. “All mages above a certain level have to register with the local lord, by the kings law. Wilberris is a prosperous Duchy, but not as sophisticated as those to the south. The spellcasters you will find here are either artificers, utility casters or the few battle mages I have in my guard. None of them are scholars, or capable of the high magics you seem to need.”
He looked sympathetically at their crestfallen expressions.
“Of clerical magic, what some call 'the mysteries', I'm less sure. I understand Brother Soren gave you a letter of introduction to Bishop Merantis? I will send my own letter, requesting that he and High Priest Farlesse of the temple of Fharlanghn grant you an audience at your mutual convenience.
“If you can not find what you seek here, I will arrange full passage for you down-river to Maysalon, and you may use my mansion there as a base to work from while you continue your search. My wife lives there at the moment, but that should not prove a problem. The one thing we both agree on is our love for our daughter. And a thousand gold apiece should help towards the costs of casting the spell, once you find someone capable of doing it.”
He gave a tight little grin at the trio's expressions, which had gone from woe-begone to awe-struck. “I hope that is to your satisfaction?”
Apple Bloom was the first to recover, or at least speak. “Gosh, I mean that's amazingly generous, your duke-ship, sir!”
He chuckled at her reply, seeming remarkably like his daughter for a moment. “Good, I'm glad you think so. I owe you all a great debt, and I've tried to provide you things you will have the most use for.”
“Yeah, you're as great at Princess Celestia!” Scootaloo added.
The Duke acknowledged the complement with a smile. “I shall take that as high praise.”
His scribe coughed meaningfully, and his expression lost it's humour as he glanced down at his paper-filled desk. “I would love to hear more of your world, but I have this lot to work through, so I must cut this short. Thank you again on behalf of my self and my house. I shall see you anon.”